Students made not only a lot of noise, but also a loud statement as they popped balloons at the Stomp Out Bullying event at Marana High School last week.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said sophomore Hannah Ransom. “It symbolizes a lot and helps show people and help them remember not to bully.”

The students stomped on the balloons to symbolically take a stance against bullying.

This was the second year the high school has hosted the event, which aligns with the World Day of Bullying Prevention on Oct. 1. Clubs from the school and organizations in the community set up tables to support the event, the school hung anti-bullying signs around the area and students dressed in blue shirts handed out approximately 750 balloons. Each balloon had a message inside that could win a student a prize – whether that was a T-shirt, Be Kind sticker, anti-bullying wristbands and more.

For exchange student Ida Jensen the event was an entirely new experience.

“I’m from Denmark,’ said Jensen. “They don’t do this in Denmark – there is bullying there but they don’t put on something like this. It’s really cool that they do it.”

Principal Allison Murphy sees the event as a way to bring all the students together for a larger cause that affects the entire nation.

“We are committed to providing a high quality learning environment where our students are safe and feel cared for,” said Murphy as stated in the event press release.

The high school’s Safe and Supportive Schools, Youth Empowerment for Success, and the Change Agents students’ committees put together the event. The committees also brought in a guest speaker from Ben’s Bells who spoke to the students later that afternoon.

MHS was one of thousands of schools across the country that took part in the World Day of Bullying Prevention. For more information about Stomp Out Bullying go to www.stompoutbullying.org.